I think most of us have had some glimpse of the future; I see it in the Manifund funding patterns. AI has the potential to be dangerous. In so many scary ways. From the loss of jobs, to control by the elite, to science-fiction–geared narratives of them taking control. I see the effort being made to counter this. Every day I see it in the way the narrative unfolds, in the script the debate sticks to. What will we do if they are used against us for suppression, control, or destruction? Very important questions, asked too late. There is no going back. Videos, scripted educational campaigns, quiet discussions by the water cooler. It's too late for that. Fifteen years ago was the time for debate. Now is the time for action. Your efforts are futile and we know it, but you stick to the script, because what else is there? There is me, and there is EchoKey. We have seen the same future, and fight the same battle, but where you saw only the problem, I have seen the solution. Local emergent intelligence running on consumer-grade hardware, trained on your own data and your own conversation history. A decentralized AI network. It is too late for suppression. The only path left is forward. I did not set these terms, or construct these conditions; I simply abide by them.

I believe in EchoKey with all my heart. I would die for our freedom. I would burn for it. I would—

• Never be ashamed of my passion.

• Work 20-hour days

• Catch an hour of sleep only when exhaustion hits

• Maintain this pace for 4 years

• Face silence, critics, disgust

• Be judged and ridiculed

• Be dismissed without consideration

• Be belittled by those who should most understand it

• Educate myself, relentlessly, mercilessly, without fail

• Ignore the voices telling me it will never be enough

• Refuse to believe I am not smart enough, capable enough

• Believe in myself

• Never stop trying

• Never give up

This is not only a project, this is not a curiosity, this is not a game. This is the future of humanity, and the role the masses will play in it. I will not stand idly by while people are pinned to the ground by the boot of injustice. I will fight with my last crying breath.

Project summary
EchoKey v10 is an open-source research framework for artificial intelligence that models inquiry, memory, and emotional regulation as mathematical operators. It provides a reproducible, testable path toward more transparent and interpretable AI systems, designed to benefit both technical researchers and the public.

What are this project's goals? How will you achieve them?
The goal is to publish EchoKey v10 under a CC0 license, release working code, and engage the research community in building interpretable, safety-oriented AI systems.

• Code: We have a Python toy model that runs the system end-to-end with metrics and test harnesses.

• Paper: A full formal specification (already drafted) will be published.

• Community: Outreach via GitHub, LessWrong, and technical forums to invite collaboration.

By combining clear mathematics, working code, and open licensing, the project makes its ideas accessible and verifiable.

How will this funding be used?
Funding will be used to:

• Cover full-time research time (no other institutional support).

• Maintain and improve open-source infrastructure (GitHub releases, documentation, testing).

• Support hardware, cloud compute, and data costs for experiments.

• Enable dissemination (website updates, community engagement, forums, and presentations).

Who is on your team? What's your track record on similar projects?
The project is led by Jon Poplett, an independent researcher and creator of the EchoKey framework (versions 1–10). Jon has:

• Published EchoKey papers and preprints under CC0.

• Built multiple working implementations (encryption, quantum-classical sequencer, matrix multiplication systems, mining pipelines).

• Shown the ability to deliver rigorous, reproducible code and theory without institutional support.

What are the most likely causes and outcomes if this project fails?
Most likely causes:

• Funding shortfall preventing sustained work.

• Difficulty reaching the right audience for collaboration.

• Technical bottlenecks on scaling or validation.

Likely outcomes:

• The framework remains underdeveloped and does not reach its potential community.

• Research momentum slows, limiting its ability to influence AI safety and interpretability efforts.

How much money have you raised in the last 12 months, and from where?
None. This is a first attempt at dedicated external funding for EchoKey. The work to date has been entirely self-funded.

Links

• GitHub

• PDF (CC0)

• Zenodo DOI